The father of 14-year-old suspected mass shooter Colt Gray told investigators that he purchased the firearm used to kill at least four and injure nine more as a Christmas gift for his son in December 2023, a CNN report alleges.
Per the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, 59-year-old Colin Gray was charged in connection to the Apalachee High School killing spree, with a source telling CNN that the weapon was purchased at a local gun store after law enforcement raised red flags.
Colin Gray, charged on Thursday night with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children, was interviewed by local law enforcement in May 2023 when the FBI found threats to commit a school shooting made by the younger Gray online.
That investigation ended when the threat couldn’t be substantiated.
“These charges stem from Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son Colt to possess a weapon,” GBI Director Chris Hosey reportedly said.
Colin Gray reportedly told the local sheriff’s department then that his son didn’t have unsupervised access to the guns he kept in the house, before later purchasing his son the weapon.
Colt Gray, charged with four counts of murder on Thursday, was in the midst of his first full day of school at Apalachee High School when he shot 13 students before surrendering to a school resource officer.
Of the deceased, two were students at the school — Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo — alongside two teachers, Christina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall.